Door device for small-sized vehicle

ABSTRACT

Provide a door device of a small-sized vehicle that can secure space for occupants. An openable door  70  is provided to a side of a vehicle body to cover an opening and a convex portion  75  that gets on a footboard  62  when the door  70  is closed is provided to an inside lower part of the door  70.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a door device of a small-sized vehicle.

BACKGROUND ART

A small-sized vehicle includes a multi utility vehicle (MUV) that canrun on wasteland and the like. In this type of some vehicles, a seatedtype of seat is provided, a leg space in front of the seat is extendedin a lateral direction, a side of a body is open, and a lower end of theopening on the side of the body functions as a footboard (for example,refer to a patent document 1). Patent document 1: JP-A No. 2007-269147

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problem to be Solved by the Invention

When an openable door is provided to cover the opening on the side ofthe body of the above-mentioned small-sized vehicle, it is desired thatthe door has a shape in which space for occupants can be sufficientlysecured.

The present invention is made in view of the above-mentioned situationand it is an object of the present invention to provide a door device ofa small-sized vehicle in which space for occupants can be secured.

Means of Solving the Problem

To achieve the above-mentioned object, according to the presentinvention, there is provided a door device of a small-sized vehicleprovided with a body having an opening on at least one side and afootboard at a lower end of the opening, characterized in that anopenable door is provided to a side of the body to cover the opening anda convex portion that gets on the footboard when the door is closed isprovided to an inside lower part of the door.

According to the present invention, as the openable door is provided tothe side of the body to cover the opening on the side of the body andthe convex portion that gets on the footboard when the door is closed isprovided to the inside lower part of the door, an internal surface wherethe inside of the door and a floor are integrated is formed and spacefor occupants can be secured.

A concave portion for letting in an occupant's leg may be also providedover the convex portion inside the door. According to thisconfiguration, as the concave portion for letting in the occupant's legis provided over the convex portion inside the door, space for theoccupant can be extended without changing a shape of a wall of the doorand when the leg is moved, the concave portion functions as a guide forthe leg and can prevent the leg from moving on the side of the lever.

A concave portion for embedding a door hinge of the door may be alsoprovided to a front end of the door. According to this configuration, asthe concave portion for embedding the door hinge is provided to thefront end of the door, space for occupants can be greatly secured by thequantity of the concave portion.

The footboard is provided to an end of the floor of the small-sizedvehicle in a lower position than the floor and height of a top face ofthe convex portion may be also set to the same level as the floor.According to this configuration, as the height of the top face of theconvex portion inside the door is set to the same level as the floor,the floor can be extended by the quantity of the convex portion. Thedoor is hollowly molded in resin and the convex portion may be alsointegrated when the door is hollowly molded in resin. According to thisconfiguration, the convex portion can be easily provided.

A latch mechanism locked by a latch striker provided on the side of thevehicle body may be also provided to the door. The latch mechanism isprovided with a lever member operated according to the operation of theopening/closing lever and a latch member that can release fitting to thelatch striker in interlock with the operation of the lever member.According to this configuration, the latch mechanism is operatedaccording to the operation of the opening/closing lever and can releasefitting to the latch striker. In this case, the latch member may be alsocoupled to the lever member via a lost motion mechanism that operatesthe latch member with play for the operation of the lever member.According to this configuration, while the opening/closing lever isoperated in a relatively small operational range, fitting to the latchstriker can be held.

EFFECT OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, as the openable door is provided tothe side of the body to cover the opening on the side of the body andthe convex portion that gets on the footboard when the door is closed isprovided to the inside lower part of the door, the internal surfacewhere the inside of the door and the floor are integrated is formed andthe space for occupants can be secured.

As the concave portion for letting in an occupant's leg is provided overthe convex portion inside the door, the space for occupants can beextended without changing the shape of the wall of the door, inaddition, when the foot is moved, the concave portion functions as theguide for the foot, and the concave portion can prevent the foot frommoving on the side of the lever.

As the concave portion for embedding the door hinge of the door isprovided to the front end of the door, the space for occupants can begreatly secured by the quantity of the concave portion. As the footboardis provided to the end of the floor of the small-sized vehicle in thelower position than the floor and the height of the top face of theconvex portion is set to the same level as the floor, the floor can beextended by the quantity of the convex portion. Besides, as the door ishollowly molded in resin and the convex portion is integrated when thedoor is hollowly molded in resin, the convex portion can be easilyprovided.

As the latch mechanism locked by the latch striker provided on the sideof the vehicle body is provided to the door and is provided with thelever member operated according to the operation of the opening/closinglever and the latch member that can release fitting to the latch strikerin interlock with the operation of the lever member, the latch mechanismis operated according to the operation of the opening/closing lever andcan release fitting to the latch striker. Besides, as the latch memberis coupled to the lever member via the lost motion mechanism thatoperates the latch member with play for the operation of the levermember, the fitting to the latch striker can be held while theopening/closing lever is operated in the relatively small operationalrange.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a small-sized vehicle in a firstembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a vehicle body frame together witha door and a side cover.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a roll bar together with the door and theside cover.

FIG. 4 shows the vehicle body frame viewed from the inside of the door.

FIG. 5 shows a vehicle body of the door viewed from the inside of thevehicle body.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the vehicle body of the door viewedfrom the inside of the vehicle body.

FIG. 7 shows the door viewed from the upside together with itsperipheral configuration.

FIG. 8 shows positional relation of the door viewed from the back and afloor.

FIG. 9 shows a door hinge together with a door supporting frame.

FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 shows a horizontal section of the door hinge together with itsperipheral configuration.

FIG. 12 shows a mechanism section of a lock unit.

FIG. 13 shows the mechanism of the lock unit.

FIG. 14 is an exploded perspective view showing the lock unit.

FIG. 15 shows an opening/closing lever, (A) is a top view, (B) is a planview, and (C) is a side view.

FIG. 16 shows a net.

FIG. 17 shows the net together with a hip guard respectively viewed fromthe downside.

FIG. 18 shows a lock unit of a door in a second embodiment together withits peripheral configuration.

FIG. 19 shows a mechanism section of the lock unit together with itsperipheral configuration.

DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   -   10 Small-sized vehicle    -   10A Body    -   11 Body frame    -   11X Door supporting frame    -   13 Front wheel    -   15 Rear wheel    -   17 Power unit    -   18 Occupant seat    -   33 Cover member    -   40 Roll bar    -   41 Side cover    -   49 Hip guard    -   50 Net    -   60 Space to put feet    -   60A Opening    -   61 Floor panel    -   62 footboard    -   70 Door    -   71 Body of door    -   72 Front concave portion    -   73 Central concave portion    -   74 Upper concave portion    -   75 Convex portion    -   80 Door hinge    -   90 Latch striker    -   91 Lock unit    -   92 Opening/Closing lever    -   100 Mechanism section    -   101 Unit cover    -   110 Base plate    -   120 Supporting shaft    -   140 Latch mechanism (Latch lock mechanism)

BEST MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Referring to the attached drawings, one embodiment of the presentinvention will be described below. In the following description, adirection such as forward, backward, rightward, leftward, upward anddownward shall be a direction viewed from an occupant (a passenger)seated on a vehicle body.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a small-sized vehicle in a firstembodiment of the present invention. The small-sized vehicle 10 is avehicle classified into a multi utility vehicle (MUV) suitable forrunning on an uneven road, provided with right and left front wheels 13,13 and right and left rear wheels 15, 15 respectively independentlysuspended, for example, supported by a double wishbone type suspensionfrom a vehicle body frame 11, a power unit 17 including an engine and atransmission and supported by the vehicle body frame 11 between thefront wheels 13, 13 and the rear wheels 15, 15, such as a substantiallyintermediate position in a longitudinal direction of a vehicle body, twooccupant seats 18, 18 to be a driver's seat and a passenger seatrespectively supported by the vehicle body frame 11 over the power unit17 and a steering wheel 20 for steering the front wheels 13, 13.

A final reduction gear 21 for the front wheels is supported between theright and left front wheels 13, 13 by the vehicle body frame 11 and iscoupled to the right and left front wheels 13, 13 via a driving shaft21A coupled to the right side and the left side of the final reductiongear 21. Besides, a final reduction gear 22 for the rear wheels issupported between the right and left rear wheels 15, 15 by the vehiclebody frame 11 and is coupled to the right and left rear wheels 15, 15via a driving shaft 22A coupled to the right side and the left side ofthe final reduction gear 22. A reference numeral 13A in FIG. 1 denotes ahub on the side of the front wheel 13 to which the driving shaft 21A iscoupled and 15A denotes a hub on the side of the rear wheel 15 to whichthe driving shaft 22A is coupled. This vehicle 10 is provided with abraking device (not shown) for braking the front wheels 13, 13 and therear wheels 15, 15.

A front propeller shaft 25 and a rear propeller shaft 26 are coupled tothe power unit 17, the rotation of the engine is decelerated at gearratio corresponding to a predetermined shift level in the transmission,and is transmitted to both propeller shafts 25, 26.

The front propeller shaft 25 is extended forward from a lower part ofthe power unit 17, and is coupled to the final reduction gear 21, andtransmits the driving force of the power unit 17 to the front wheels 13,13 via the final reduction gear 21. The rear propeller shaft 26 isextended backward from the lower part of the power unit 17, and iscoupled to the final reduction gear 22, and transmits the driving forceof the power unit 17 to the rear wheels 15, 15 via the final reductiongear 22.

Next, the body 10A of the small-sized vehicle 10 will be described. Thefront of the body 10A of the small-sized vehicle 10 includes an enginehood 31 covering the front of the vehicle body from the upside, a pairof right and left front fenders 32, 32 covering each upside and eachrear of the front wheels 13, 14 on the right and left sides of theengine hood 31, a headlight 34 for lighting a forward direction of thevehicle body and a carrying pipe 35 arranged in the front of the vehiclebody. Besides, the rear of the body 10A of the small-sized vehicle 10includes a pair of right and left rear fenders 37, 37 covering eachupside of the rear wheels 15, 15 and a cargo bed 39 the upside forloading luggage of which is openable and which is in the shape of a box.

A roll bar 40 is provided to the body 10A of the small-sized vehicle 10so as to substantially enclose space, which hereinafter called apassenger compartment, for an occupant or a passenger seated on theoccupant seats 18, 18. A pair of right and left nets 50 are detachablyprovided to the right and left sides of the roll bar 40.

Further, a pair of right and left side covers 41, 41 are provided to thesides of the body 10A of the small-sized vehicle 10 to cover the rightand left sides of the power unit 17, and openings 60A communicating witha leg room (leg space) 60 for an occupant is open between the sidecovers 41, 41 and the front fenders 32, 32. In this configuration, door70 opened and closed to cover the right and left openings 60A areprovided.

Next, the vehicle body frame 11 and its peripheral structure will bedescribed.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the vehicle body frame 11 togetherwith the door 70 and the side cover 41, FIG. 3 is a side view showingthe roll bar 40 together with the door 70 and the side cover 41, andFIG. 4 shows the vehicle body frame 11 viewed from the inside of thedoor 70.

As shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle body frame 11 includes a pair of rightand left lower frames 11A, 11A extended substantially in parallel in alongitudinal direction of a bottom of the vehicle, a pair of right andleft front frames 11B, 11B extended in a backward and upward directionof the vehicle body from the fronts of the lower frames 11A, 11A andextended in a backward direction of the vehicle body on the upsides ofthe lower frames 11A, 11A and a pair of upper and lower front crossframes 11C, 11D vertically having an interval to respectively couple therears of the pair of front frames 11B, 11B and the pair of right andleft lower frames 11A, 11A and extended laterally.

In this configuration, frame structure in which the two lower frames11A, 11A extended in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body aredivided into two in the longitudinal direction, rear ends of lowerframes 11A1, 11A1 on the front side are coupled to the front cross frame11D, front ends of lower frames 11A2, 11A2 on the rear side are coupledto the front cross frame 11D is shown, however, frame structure in whichthe lower frames 11A, 11A are not divided in two in the longitudinaldirection may be also provided.

The vehicle body frame 11 also includes a pair of right and left upperframes 11E, 11E bent and extended substantially horizontally in thebackward direction of the vehicle body after they are extended upwardfrom substantially intermediate parts of the lower frames 11A, 11A,brackets 11F, 11F for vertically connecting the rears of the lowerframes 11A, 11A and the rears of the upper frames 11E, 11E, a pair ofright and left side lower frames 11G, 11G provided substantially inparallel with the lower frames 11A, 11A on the right side and on theleft side of an intermediate part of the vehicle body and a pair ofright and left side upper frames 11H, 11H provided substantially inparallel with the upper frames 11E, 11E substantially on the upsides ofthe side lower frames 11G. These frames are integrated via pluralcoupling members. A bulkhead plate 11K for partitioning the front of thebody and the passenger compartment is provided between the pair of upperand lower front cross frames 11C, 11D.

The right and left occupant seats 18 are coupled to the upper frames11E, 11E and the side upper frames 11H, 11H via brackets and the like asshown in FIG. 2. The roll bar 40 enclosing the passenger compartment iscoupled to the vehicle body frame 11. The roll bar 40 is configured bycoupling plural pipe members and to classify roughly, as shown in FIGS.1 and 3, the roll bar is provided with a pair of right and left roll barfront pipes 44, 44 extended in an upward direction of the vehicle bodyfrom the upsides of the rears of the right and left front fenders 32,32, a roll bar front upper pipe 45 coupled to upper ends of the rightand left roll bar front pipes 44, 44 and laterally extended between theroll bar front pipes 44, 44, a pair of right and left roll bar upperpipes 46 bent in a downward direction of the vehicle body after they areextended in the downward direction of the vehicle body from the roll barfront upper pipe 45 and a pair of right and left roll bar rear pipes 47,47 coupled to rear ends of the roll bar upper pipes 46, 46 and extendedin the downward direction of the vehicle body. The roll bar 40 is fixedto the vehicle body frame 11 by coupling a lower part of the front ofthe roll bar 40, which is lower ends of the roll bar front pipes 44, 44,to brackets 11C1, 11C1 (see FIG. 2) provided to the front cross frame11C and coupling a lower part of the rear of the roll bar 40, which islower ends of the roll bar rear pipes 47, 47, to the side upper frames11H, 11H.

A pair of right and left guard frames on the back side 48, 48 extendedsubstantially in a U-shape toward the center in a direction of vehiclewidth on the back side of the passenger compartment are provided to theroll bar 40 and a pair of right and left hip guards 49, 49 extendedsubstantially in a U-shape in the forward direction of the vehicle bodyon the sides of the body of the occupant seats 18, 18 are provided tothe roll bar. Brackets 48A, 48A are provided to the guard frames on theback side 48, 48 in positions corresponding to the upsides of theoccupant seats 18 and head rests 18A, 18A (see FIG. 1) are fixed to thebrackets 48A, 48A. Bases of the hip guards 49, 49 are coupled to theguard frames on the back side 48, 48 and the roll bar rear pipes 47, 47as shown in FIG. 4, fronts of the hip guards 49, 49 are extended towardthe front of the vehicle body, and are coupled to brackets 11H1, 11H1provided to the side upper frames 11H, 11H.

The side covers 41, 41 are located on the downsides of the occupantseats 18, 18 in a side view of the vehicle body and as shown in FIG. 3,in each side cover, an upper cover part 41A provided with a part 41A1having difference in a level and concave in the downward direction ofthe vehicle body, a side cover part 41B extended in the downwarddirection of the vehicle body from the upper cover part 41A and a backcover part 41C extended in the downward direction of the vehicle bodyalong a rear edge of the side cover part 41B from a rear end of theupper cover part 41A and also functioning as fenders for covering thefronts of the rear wheels 15, 15 are integrated. The part 41A1 havingdifference in a level of the upper cover part 41A is formed to avoidinterference with the roll bar 40 and is formed in a shape and instrength respectively also usable as a step for the occupant to puthis/her foot and to move on the side of the occupant seats 18, 18.

Clearance among the bulkhead plate 11K arranged between the front crossframes 11C, 11D, the upper frames 11E, 11E and the side upper frames11H, 11H functions as the leg room 60 for occupants seated on theoccupant seats 18, 18. The leg room 60 is extended in a lateraldirection of the vehicle body, and is open on the side of the body 10A,as shown in FIG. 1, a floor panel 61 is laid at the bottom of the legroom 60, and footboards 62, 62 (see FIG. 8 described later) provided ina lower position than the floor panel 61 are provided to right and leftends of the floor panel 61.

The door 70 is provided to cover the opening 60A on the side of the legroom 60 and is openably attached to right and left door supportingframes 11X, 11X coupled by brackets 11XA, 11XB so that right and leftends of the front cross frame 11C and the front of the side lower frame11G are connected via a pair of upper and lower door hinges 80 as shownin FIGS. 3 and 4. The door supporting frames 11X, 11X are covered withcover members 33, 33 located at the back of the front fenders 32, 32 inthe side view of the vehicle body as shown in FIG. 2.

A lock unit 91 locked by a latch striker 90 provided on the side of thevehicle body frame 11, or more concretely, the hip guard 49, when thedoor 70 is closed is provided to the door 70 as shown in FIG. 4, a lockis released by operating an opening/closing lever 92 provided to thelock unit 91, and the door 70 can be opened.

Next, the door 70 will be described in detail. A door body 71 of thedoor 70 is integrated by hollow resin molding and is formed to be a doorhaving predetermined thickness though the door is light because theinside is hollow. The door 70 is provided with an external shape that itis extended in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body betweenthe front fender 32 and the side cover as shown in FIG. 1, its upperedge is extended substantially horizontally at the substantially samelevel as a surface of the occupant seat 18 and its lower edge isextended substantially horizontally in the vicinity of an upper edge ofeach side lower frame 11G.

An outside surface (external surface) of the door body 71 is providedwith a concave upper half 71A located in front of the part havingdifference in a level 41A1 provided to the upper cover part 41A of theside cover 41 and a lower half 71B located in front of the side coverpart 41B of the side cover 41 as shown in FIG. 3 and hereby, when thedoor 70 is closed, the door is formed in an external shape that the sidecover 41 and the door body 71 are substantially integrated.

When the door 70 is closed, a rear edge and a lower edge of the doorbody 71 are overlapped with the outside of the side cover 41 and thedoor is formed so that no clearance in the lateral direction of thevehicle body is formed between the door body 71 and the side cover 41.

FIG. 5 shows the door body 71 viewed from the inside of the vehicle bodyand FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing it. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6,a pair of upper and lower front concave portions 72, 72 in which eachdoor hinges 80, 80 is embedded are formed in the front of an insidesurface of the door body 71 and hereby, the door hinges 80, 80 areprevented from being protruded inside the vehicle body.

A central concave portion 73 in which the occupant can put his/her legis formed at the back of the front concave portions 72, 72 and the spacefor the occupant to put his/her legs can be extended by the quantity ofthe central concave portion 73. Further, an upper concave portion 74 forhousing the lock unit 91 and the opening/closing lever 92 in thethickness of the door 70 and offsetting the thickness of theopening/closing lever is formed in the rear of an upper part of the doorbody 71 substantially over the central concave portion 73. A referencenumeral 76 in FIGS. 5 and 6 denotes a tapped hole to which a screw formounting the lock unit 91 is fastened.

A convex portion 75 protruded inside the vehicle body from the frontside to the rear side of the door body 71 is formed in a lower part ofthe inside of the door body 71 as shown in FIG. 6. FIG. 7 shows the door70 viewed from the upside and FIG. 8 shows positional relation with afloor (the floor panel 61 and the footboards 62) when the door 70 isviewed from the back. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the convex portion 75gets in on the upside of the footboards 62 when the door 70 is closedand unites the floor panel 61 inside the footboards 62 and the insidesurface of the door. In this case, as shown in FIG. 8, as the height ofa top face of the convex portion 75 is at the same level as the floorpanel 61 forming the floor, the convex portion 75 can function as a partof the floor. As the upside of the convex portion 75 is open, the spacefor the occupants is sufficiently secured.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the door hinges 80, 80 togetherwith the door supporting frame 11X and FIG. 10 is an explodedperspective view of FIG. 7. As the upper and lower door hinges 80 hasthe same configuration, one door hinge 80 will be described in detail.The door hinge 80 is provided with a first fixed part 82 fixed to abracket 11X1 integrated with the door supporting frame 11X by screws 81,81 and a second fixed part 84 fixed to the first fixed part 82 by screws83, 83 and protruded in the backward direction of the vehicle body fromthe first fixed part 82. A hinge pin 86 fixed by pin fixing members 85,85 is provided to an end of the second fixed part 84 and a moving member87 is turnably provided via the hinge pin 86. The moving member 87 isembedded in the front concave portions 72, 72 of the door body 71 and isfixed by plural coupling parts 88 (a screw, a collar, a washer and anut) in that state.

FIG. 11 shows a horizontal section of the door hinge 80 together withits peripheral configuration. As shown in FIG. 11, as the first fixedpart 82 and the second fixed part 84 respectively configuring a fixedpart of the door hinge 80 connect substantially in L shape inside thevehicle body, which is on the side of the passenger compartment, of thecover member 33 covering the door supporting frame 11X and the movingmember 87 is arranged outside of the end portion of the second fixedpart 84, clearance between the cover member 33 and the moving member 87of the door hinge 80 does not communicate with the inside of the vehiclebody, which is the side of the passenger compartment. Therefore, adedicated sealing member for closing the clearance between the covermember 33 and the door 70 is not required.

As the fixed part of the door hinge 80 is divided into two parts thatthe first fixed part 82 and the second fixed part 84, and the secondfixed part 84 and the moving member 87 cover the hinge pin 86, the hingepin 86 can be laid out so that it cannot be viewed from the outsidewithout providing a dedicated covering member for covering the hinge pin86.

FIGS. 12 and 13 show a mechanism section 100 of the lock unit 91 andFIG. 14 is an exploded perspective view showing the lock unit 91. Thelock unit 91 is configured by the mechanism section 100 and a unit cover101 (see FIG. 14) that covers the mechanism section 100.

The mechanism section 100 is provided with a base plate 110 closelyfixed to the upper concave portion 74 (see FIG. 5) of the door 70, asupporting shaft 120 turnably supported horizontally, such as in thelongitudinal direction of the vehicle body, by the base plate 110, theopening/closing lever 92 supported by the supporting shaft 120 and alatch mechanism 140, which is also called a latch lock mechanism, forlocking the door which is coupled to the side of one end of thesupporting shaft 120 and can be locked by the latch striker 90 providedon the side of the vehicle body frame 11.

To describe the above-mentioned in detail, a first bent part 111 benttoward the inside of the vehicle body, the passenger compartment side,is provided to the base plate 110 on the side of a front end of thevehicle body and a second bent part 112 bent toward the inside of thevehicle body is provided to the rear at an interval from the first bentpart 111. A pair of front and rear through holes 113, 113 communicatinghorizontally are bored in the bent parts 111, 112 and the supportingshaft 120 is turnably supported horizontally by inserting the supportingshaft 120 into both through holes 113, 113.

In this case, a speed nut 114 is fastened to the supporting shaft 120outside the first bent part 111, which is on the front side of thevehicle body, and the supporting shaft 120 is prevented from falling outby providing a washer 115 and a snap pin 116 on the side of the secondbent part 112.

FIGS. 15(A), (B) and (C) are a top view, a plan and a side viewrespectively showing the opening/closing lever 92. The opening/closinglever 92 is provided with a substantially flat grasping part 131 and apair of shaft supporting parts 132, 132 integrated with the base side ofthe grasping part 131 and respectively provided at an interval. Theopening/closing lever 92 is formed symmetrically based upon a centralsection M1 in its longitudinal direction as shown in FIGS. 15(A) and (B)and hereby, the same part can be used for the opening/closing levers 92,92 provided to the right and left doors 70, 70.

To describe the above-mentioned in detail, as shown in FIG. 15(C), athrough hole 132A into which the supporting shaft 120 is inserted isformed in each shaft supporting part 132 and a groove 132B extended in adirection of a diameter of the through hole 132A is formed. A pin 135piercing the supporting shaft 120 in a direction of a diameter isinserted into the groove 132B as shown in FIG. 12, and theopening/closing lever 92 and the supporting shaft 120 are turnablycoupled substantially integrally via the pin 135. In this case, the pin135 is not closely inserted into the groove 132B without clearance butclearance is formed between the groove and the pin 135, and play toprevent the supporting shaft 120 from being turned even if theopening/closing lever 92 is slightly swung can be easily provided by thequantity of the clearance.

As shown in FIG. 15(B), one set of two concave portions 136, 137 for aspring are provided inside each of the pair of shaft supporting parts132, 132 on the side of the base of the grasping part 131. One of theset of two concave portions 136, 137, which is the concave portion 136,for the spring functions as a concave portion for fitting into eitherone of extended parts extended from both ends of a pressing spring 138,which is extended part 138A (see FIG. 14) wound around the supportingshaft 120 as shown in FIG. 12 is fitted, and the other concave portion137 functions as a concave portion for letting the extended part 138Bextended from the other end of the pressing spring 138 and touched tothe base plate 110 escape. That is, the opening/closing lever 92 ispressed onto the base plate 110 by the pressing spring 138 in a lockeddirection, which is in a direction shown by an arrow X in FIG. 13. Inthis case, the other set of concave portions 136, 137 for the spring areused for the same purpose when the opening/closing lever 92 is used forthe door 70 on the opposite side.

As shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, a rear end 120A of the supporting shaft 120is bent substantially in L shape. Therefore, the rear end 120A of thesupporting shaft 120 is swung according to a vertical swing of theopening/closing lever 92 with a rotational central axis, which is anaxis shown by a code L1 in FIGS. 12 and 13, of the opening/closing lever92 in the center and is pressed downward, in the direction shown by thearrow X, by the pressing spring 138.

As shown in FIG. 12, a third bent part 117 bent inside the vehicle body,which is on the side of the passenger compartment, is provided to thebase plate 110 on the rear end side of the vehicle body and the latchmechanism 140 locked by the latch striker 90 fixed to a bracket 49A (seeFIGS. 12 and 13) provided to the hip guard 49 toward the outside of thevehicle body is fixed to the third bent part 117 by screws 141, 142.

For the latch mechanism 140, a rotary latch mechanism is applied, andthe latch mechanism is provided with a holder 143 open inside thevehicle body and having a substantially U-shaped section, a lever member144 turnably supported by the holder 143 via a stem 141A (see FIG. 13)of the screw 141 and a latch member 145 interlockable with the levermember 144 and turnably supported by a stem 142A (see FIG. 13) of thescrew 142.

The lever member 144 is protruded inside the vehicle body from theholder 143 and the rear end 120A of the supporting shaft 120 is coupledto its end. As shown in FIG. 13, the stem 141A that turnably supportsthe lever member 144 is arranged on the same axis L1 as the rotationalcentral axis of the supporting shaft 120 turned by the rock of theopening/closing lever 92. Therefore, a rotational central axis of thelever member 144 and the rotational central axis of the supporting shaft120 coincide and the lever member 144 can be turned by the same angleaccording to a turn of the supporting shaft 120.

The latch member 145 is protruded inside the vehicle body from theholder 143 under the lever member 144 and a pawl 145A that can be fittedto the latch striker 90 is provided to its end. As for the latch member145, the pawl 145A is pressed on the side fitted to the latch striker 90by a pressing spring not shown and arranged in the holder 143 and acondition in which the pawl fitted to the latch striker 90 is held bythe elastic force of the pressing spring (see FIG. 13).

The latch member 145 is coupled to the lever member 144 via a lostmotion mechanism (not shown) and the lost motion mechanism operates thelatch member 145 with allowance for the operation or a turn of the levermember 144.

Concretely, even if the lever member 144 is turned according to anupward swing of the opening/closing lever 92, the latch member 145 doesnot interlock with the lever member 144 until a rotational angle isequal to or exceeds a predetermined angle or the allowance and thefitted condition to the latch striker 90 is held. When a rotationalangle of the lever member 144 is equal to or exceeds a certain angle,the latch member 145 interlocks with the lever member 144, starts itsturn, and releases fitting to the latch striker 90 (see FIG. 12).Hereby, while the opening/closing lever 92 is moved with fluctuation ina range of a relatively small angle, it is latched together with thelatch striker 90, and the door 70 is held not to open.

In this configuration, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, when no operation isapplied to the opening/closing lever 92, such that the opening/closinglever 92 is at a default position, the opening/closing lever 92 islocated in a position in which the grasping part 131 of theopening/closing lever 92 is substantially horizontal. Therefore, asshown in FIG. 4, the grasping part 131 of the opening/closing lever 92is substantially horizontally exposed on a top face of the door 70 andthe locking of the door 70 can be released by simple operation that theoccupant grasps the grasping part 131 of the opening/closing lever 92and lifts it upward.

As the base plate 110 of the mechanism section 100 that supports theopening/closing lever 92 is closely fixed to the upper concave portion74 of the door body 71 as shown in FIG. 7, the opening/closing lever 92,the supporting shaft 120 and the latch mechanism 140 respectivelysupported by the base plate 110 are held in the thickness of the doorbody 71. In this case, the most of the unit cover 101 attached to thebase plate 110 from the inside of the vehicle body is also held in thethickness of the door body 71 as shown in FIG. 4 and the protrudedamount from the door body 71 inside the body is reduced.

The unit cover 101 is formed to substantially cover the whole mechanismsection 100 except the opening/closing lever 92. That is, the unit cover101 exposes the opening/closing lever 92 on the top face of the door noton the external surface of the door 70 but inside the vehicle bodybecause a concave portion 101A concave in the downward direction of thevehicle body is formed in a position corresponding to theopening/closing lever 92. In this case, the opening/closing lever 92 isextended along the uppermost face in a slightly lower position than theuppermost face except the concave portion 101A of the unit cover 101 andoverhang on the upside of the unit cover 101 and inside the vehicle bodyis avoided. As described above, as the opening/closing lever 92 islocated not on the external surface of the door 70 but inside thevehicle body, the overhang outside the door of the opening/closing lever92 can be avoided. As the opening/closing lever 92 is exposed on the topface of the door 70, the occupant can easily operate the opening/closinglever 92 from the upside of the door and can easily access it from boththe outside and the inside of the door 70. A bottom of the concaveportion 101A of the unit cover 101 is formed to be a slope inclineddiagonally downward toward the inside of the vehicle body (see FIG. 4)and hereby, an occupant's hand can be guided to the opening/closinglever 92 along the slope.

As described above, in this configuration, as the opening/closing lever92 is provided not on the external surface of the door 70 but inside thevehicle body so that the opening/closing lever 92 can be accessed fromthe outside and the inside of the door 70, the opening/closing lever 92can be easily operated from the outside and the inside of the door 70,avoiding the overhang outside the door of the opening/closing lever 92and can be arranged in a position substantially independent ofdisturbance in running. And as it can be accessed from the inside andthe outside, the structure is simplified and the cost can be reduced.

In addition, as the opening/closing lever 92 is vertically swingablyprovided and is exposed on the top face of the door, it can be swungupward with fingers by simple operation that the occupant nips the door70 from the upside and a door lock can be released by simple andintuitive operation.

More concretely, when the occupant seated on the occupant seat 18 opensthe door 70, he/she can release the door lock by simple operation thathe/she raises the opening/closing lever 92 with fingers from the upsideof the door by nipping the door 70 and can promptly and easily open thedoor 70 with the fingers that nips the door 70. As the top face of thedoor 70 of the small-sized vehicle 10 is provided substantially at thesame level as the surface of the occupant seat 18, the occupant seatedon the occupant seat 18 and the occupant standing outside the vehiclebody can easily view the opening/closing lever 92. Hereby, theoperability and the visibility of the door suitable for the small-sizedvehicle can be secured.

Besides, in this configuration, as the opening/closing lever 92 isoffset to be housed in the thickness of the door 70, the opening/closinglever 92 can be compactly arranged without being protruded in adirection of the thickness of the door 70 as shown in FIG. 4. Inaddition, as shown in FIG. 4, as the opening/closing lever 92 isarranged in a slightly lower position than the top face of the door 70,the opening/closing lever 92 is not protruded on the upside of the doorand can be compactly arranged. The wrong operation of theopening/closing lever 92 can be also prevented by laying out theopening/closing lever 92 so that it is not protruded outside the door asdescribed above.

Further, in this configuration, as the rotational central axis of thesupporting shaft 120 of the opening/closing lever 92 turned by the swingof the opening/closing lever 92 and the rotational central axis of thelatch, which is the lever member 144, for the door lock driven by theturn of the supporting shaft 120 are laid out on the same axis L1 (seeFIGS. 12 and 13), resistance when the supporting shaft 120 is turned andthe latch the lever member 144 for the door lock is operated can bereduced. Therefore, the opening/closing lever 92 and the latch for thedoor lock can be easily interlocked. In this case, as an intricate powertransmission mechanism is not required to be provided between theopening/closing lever 92 and the latch for the door lock, the mechanismsection 100 can be simplified, the opening/closing lever 92 and themechanism, the latch mechanism 140, for the door lock can be closelyarranged, and the lock unit 91 can be compacted.

In addition, in this configuration, as the latch mechanism 140 and theopening/closing lever 92 are collectively arranged on the rear side ofthe door substantially at the same level as the surface of the occupantseat 18, the visibility and the operability of the opening/closing lever92 can be enhanced, arranging these parts compactly.

Besides, in this configuration, as the convex portion 75 that gets in onthe footboards 62 when the door 70 is closed is provided inside the door70, an internal surface where the inside of the door 70 and the floorpanel 61 provided to the bottom of the leg room 60 integrally continueis formed and space for the occupants can be secured, preventing anoccupant's foot from being moved to the footboards 62. As the top faceof the convex portion 75 is located at the same level as the floor panel61, the floor can be extended by the volume of the convex portion 75. Asthe convex portion 75 is integrated when the door 70 is hollowly moldedin resin, the convex portion 75 can be easily provided.

Further, as the central concave portion 73 for the occupant's leg toenter is provided inside the door 70, the space for occupants can beextended without changing a shape of a wall of the door 70. In thiscase, when the occupant's leg moves, the central concave portion 73functions as a guide of the leg and it can be also regulated to move tothe side of the opening/closing lever 92.

Further, as the front concave portions 72, 72 for embedding the doorhinges 80, 80 are provided inside the door 70, the overhang on the sideof the space for the occupants of the door hinges 80, 80 can beinhibited and the occupant's foot can be prevented from being touched tothe door hinge 80, 80. Hereby, the space for the occupants can be alsogreatly secured.

FIG. 16 shows a net 50 that can be detachably attached to thesmall-sized vehicle 10 in this embodiment. As for the net 50, each isattached to the right side or the left side of each roll bar 40 and aseach net has the same structure, one net 50 will be representativelydescribed below.

The net 50 is provided with a band part 51 configured by a flexible bandmember extended substantially along the roll bar 40 and a mesh net part52 spread overall inside the band part 51. The band part 51 is providedwith a first band part 51A extended substantially along the roll barfront pipe 44, a second band part 51B extended substantially along theroll bar upper pipe 46, a third band part 51C extended substantiallyalong the roll bar rear pipe 47 and a fourth band part 51D that connectsthe third band part 51C and the first band part 51A and these arecoupled to be a band frame.

Further, a fifth band part 51E extended substantially horizontallybetween the first band part 51A and the third band part 51C is providedto the band frame and a sixth band part 51F extended substantially inparallel with the first band part 51A between the front of the fifthband part 51E and the front of the fourth band part 51D is provided.

A fixing band part 51G is provided to the first band part 51A to thefourth band part 51D in each position corresponding to a looped bandfastening part 40A (see FIG. 4) provided at an interval on the roll bar40, and a fixture 51H in the shape of a substantially D-shaped loop isprovided on the base side of the fixing band part 51G. Further, acoupled tool 51J that can be detachably attached to a coupling tool 40B(see FIG. 3) provided to the lower end of the front of the roll bar 40is provided to a part in which the first band part 51A and the fourthband part 51D are coupled. The band fastening part 40A provided to theroll bar 40 is protruded in an internal direction of the vehicle bodyand is laid out not to overhang outside the roll bar 40. Hereby, evenwhen an obstacle exists in a circumference in running, the obstacle isalso prevented from touching to the band fastening part 40A.

The net part 52 is attached to each band part to cover an area enclosedby the first band part 51A to the fourth band part 51D and the whole netpart 52 is formed in a mesh of pitch in which the occupant seated on theoccupant seat 18 can sufficiently view the outside. Pitch in the mesh ofthe net part 52 is varied depending upon a location and pitch in a meshof an area, where a substantially triangular area shown in FIG. 16, onthe rear side of the first band part 51A is set to be larger than pitchin a mesh of the other area.

When the net 50 is attached to the roll bar 40, first, the coupled tool51J provided to the net 50 is installed in the coupling tool 40B of theroll bar 40 and next, the net 50 is fastened to the roll bar 40 by usingeach fixture 51H provided to the net 50 after plural fixing band parts51G provided to the net 50 are let through each band fastening part 40Aprovided to the roll bar 40. A hip guard fitting 55 for fixing the net50 to the hip guard 49 is provided to the net 50. The hip guard fitting55 is configured by a fixing band part 55A like a strap one end of whichis attached or sewed to/on the fourth band part 51D of the band part 51and a substantially D-shaped looped fixture 55B attached or sewed to/onthe fourth band part 51D so that the side of the other end of the fixingband part 55A can be fastened. Positions in which the fixing band parts51G, 55A are attached to the fixtures 51H, 55B can be adjusted by thesubstantially D-shaped looped fixtures 51H, 55B.

FIG. 17 shows the fixing band part 55A together with hip guard 49respectively viewed from the downside.

As shown in this figure, the fixing band part 55A is attached to thefixture 55B through the inside of the hip guard 49 and at this time, thefourth band part 51D of the band part 51 is pulled near the hip guard 49and this condition is held. A straight line LL shown by an alternatelong and short dash line in FIG. 17 shows a position before the fourthband part 51D of the band part 51 is pulled near the hip guard 49 and isalso equivalent to positions of the fifth band part 51E laid between thefirst band part 51A and the third band part 51C and the second band part51B in a state in which the net 50 is attached to the roll bar 40 of thevehicle.

In this case, as the hip guard 49 is located inside the vehicle body,compared with the right and left roll bar front pipes 44, 44 and theroll bar rear pipes 47, 47 (see FIG. 3 and the like), the fourth bandpart 51D of the band part 51 is also arranged inside the vehicle body,where on the side of the occupant, compared with the roll bar frontpipes 44, 44 and the roll bar rear pipes 47, 47.

When the net 50 is mounted on the roll bar 40 as described above, thefifth band part 51E extended substantially horizontally between thefirst band part 51A and the third band part 51C is located on the sideof the steering wheel 20 (see FIG. 1) and it can be regulated for anoccupant's hand gripping the steering wheel 20 and the like to overhangoutside the vehicle body.

Besides, as the fourth band part 51D extended between the first bandpart 51A and the third band part 51C under the fifth band part 51E isattached to the hip guard 49, the fourth band part 51D can be arrangedclosely on the side of the occupant seated on the occupant seat 18inside the hip guard 49 and the occupant can be securely protected. Inthis case, as the net 50 can be turned up using the hip guard 49 for aguide when the net 50 is lifted in riding, the net 50 does not interfereriding. As the area a set so that the pitch in a mesh of the net part 52is large is located in the front right or the front left area of theoccupant seated on the occupant seat 18, visibility in a front lateraldirection of the vehicle body by the occupant can be enhanced.

FIGS. 18 and 19 show an another configuration of lock unit 91. In thedoor 70, an opening/closing lever 92 is provided to the vicinity of anupper end of the door 70. Detailedly, as shown in FIG. 18, a concaveportion 151 which is not open upward though it is made concave towardthe outside of the vehicle body to expose the opening/closing lever 92inside the vehicle body is provided to a unit cover 101 covering amechanism section 100 of a lock unit 91 from the inside of a vehiclebody and the opening/closing lever 92 is exposed only inside the vehiclebody without being exposed from a top face of the door owing to an upperwall 152 of the concave portion 151. In this case, the opening/closinglever 92 is arranged in the vicinity of a top face (the vicinity of anupper end) of the unit cover 101, and is extended along a surface insidethe vehicle body of the unit cover 101, and overhang from the upside ofthe unit cover 101 and from the inside of the vehicle body is avoided. Alower wall 153 of the concave portion 151 is formed in a low position atan interval between the lower wall and the opening/closing lever 92 andspace for an occupant to insert his/her fingers is formed under theopening/closing lever 92.

As shown in FIG. 19, in the lock unit 91, a position (a default positionof the opening/closing lever 92) of the opening/closing lever 92 when nocontrol force is applied to the opening/closing lever 92 is set so thatan end of a grasping part 131 of the opening/closing lever 92 isdirected substantially downward. Therefore, a door lock can be releasedby swinging the opening/closing lever 92 so that the end of the graspingpart 131 is raised inside the vehicle body.

As described above, even if the opening/closing lever 92 is arranged inthe vicinity of the top face (the vicinity of the upper end) of the door70, the opening/closing lever 92 can be located not on an externalsurface of the door 70 but inside the vehicle body to enable access fromthe outside and the inside of the door 70 as in the first embodiment,the opening/closing lever 92 can be swung upward by an occupant's thumband the like by substantially the same operation as the occupant graspsan upper edge of the door 70, and the door lock can be released bysimple and intuitive operation.

In addition, as the opening/closing lever 92 is exposed in the concaveportion 151 provided to the unit cover 101 and made concave toward theoutside of the vehicle body, the opening/closing lever 92 and the likeare housed in the thickness of the door 70, the thickness of theopening/closing lever can be offset, and the wrong operation of theopening/closing lever 92 from the upside can be prevented. The concaveportion 151 provided to the unit cover 101 can guide the occupant'sfingers to the opening/closing lever 92.

The present invention has been described based upon the embodiments,however, the present invention is not limited to these and variousalterations of design are possible. For example, in the above-mentionedembodiment, the case that the present invention is applied to the doordevice of the small-sized vehicle provided with the doors on both sidesof the vehicle body has been described, however, the present inventionmay be also applied to a door device of a small-sized vehicle providedwith a vehicle body at least one side of which is open.

In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the case that thepresent invention is applied to the door device of the small-sizedvehicle classified into an MUV has been described, however, the presentinvention may be also applied to a door device of a small-sized vehicleother than the MUV.

1-7. (canceled)
 8. A door device of a small-sized vehicle comprising: abody having an opening on at least one side; and a footboard at a lowerend of the opening, wherein an openable door is provided to a side ofthe body to cover the opening; a convex portion that gets on thefootboard when the door is closed is provided to an inside lower part ofthe door; and a concave portion provided over the convex portion insidethe door for letting in an occupant's leg.
 9. The door device of thesmall-sized vehicle according to the claim 8, comprising: a concaveportion provided to a front end of the door for embedding a door hingeof the door.
 10. The door device of the small-sized vehicle accordingclaim 8, wherein the footboard is provided to an end of a floor of thesmall-sized vehicle in a lower part than the floor; and height of a topface of the convex portion is set to the same level as the floor. 11.The door device of the small-sized vehicle according to claim 8 whereinthe door is hollowly molded in resin; and the convex portion isintegrated when the door is hollowly molded in resin.
 12. The doordevice of the small-sized vehicle according to claim 8, wherein the dooris provided with a latch mechanism fitted to a latch striker provided onthe side of the vehicle body; and the latch mechanism is provided with alever member operated according to operation of an opening/closing leverand a latch member that can release fitting to the latch striker ininterlock with operation of the lever member.
 13. The door device of thesmall-sized vehicle according to claim 12, wherein the latch member iscoupled to the lever member via a lost motion mechanism that operatesthe latch member with play for the operation of the lever member.